Wrong Side of the World
by ekc293
Summary: "Every night just feels like I'm on the wrong side of the world." Now a two-shot, Casketty fluffiness.
1. On the Road

Hello! Here's another Castle oneshot. It's Casketty, and I'm not really sure how I feel about it anymore. It started one way and then went off in a completely different direction, but who knows? Some of you may enjoy it.  
><strong>Disclaimer- <strong>I don't own Castle. Nor do I own "Wrong Side of the World" by Famous Like You (which you can listen to here: http:/youtube .com/watch?v=Ob_320dkh1Q)

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><p>When Richard Castle left for a summer adventure in the Hamptons for three months, Kate Beckett had been livid. He had just looped his arm with his blonde ex-wife's and walked out of the precinct without looking back. And she had just gotten the courage to tell him how she felt. He never called to check up on her and her team, he never emailed; he never even sent them a damn text message.<p>

When Rick left this time, the circumstances were much different. After canceling so many due to helping Kate with cases and spending quality time with Alexis before she had left for college, Rick was due for a book tour (& his publisher and agent refused to take 'no' for an answer). Unfortunately for Kate and Rick, this book tour wasn't his normal Hit-all-the-massive-cities-in-the-United-States-and-be-home-in-three-weeks kind of book tour. No, this book tour had him traveling all across Europe, and it had certainly lasted longer than three weeks.

Had it really been six and a half months since the last time they saw each other in person?

It couldn't possibly be a little over six months since he pulled her toward him in the middle of the precinct in front of her team, and kissed her with more passion than she had ever felt in one kiss. There is no way that it had been six and a half months since he asked her to wait for him to come back; six and a half months since she said she would; six and a half months since he told her he loved her for the first time; six and a half months since she said it back.

Really? It had _only_ been six and a half months?

If they were being completely honest, those 26 weeks without each other were taking a tremendous toll on both of them, just like it had when he had left her for the Hamptons despite the circumstances regarding this separation being quite different.

For one, Castle didn't want to leave. While the idea of gallivanting around Europe for nearly a year would have excited him five years ago, now the only thing he wanted was to be home in his loft, curled up on his sofa watching sci-fi movies with Kate. He wanted to be cooking dinner for her and his daughter, watching them laugh and start building the relationship he knew they both wanted. He wanted to be bringing Kate her coffee every morning, to be sneaking kisses in the break room when no one was looking, and just be there for her; with her.

The other main difference was that they were still in contact with one another. In fact, it was hard to think of a time when they weren't communicating in some fashion. Every morning, Kate woke up to text message from Rick wishing her good morning. And every day when she knew he would be getting ready to go to bed, she sent him a text telling him to sleep well. Whenever she needed help with a case, she'd send him a picture of the murder board on her phone, and he'd call her and talk about his thoughts. Occasionally Rick sent Kate packages, in which the contents inside ranged from books he had picked up on his travels which he thought she might enjoy, to chocolate candies which he always promised would be "the best thing you will ever taste," and even the occasional dress which he said he had seen in a window of a boutique while walking down the street and knew that she would look lovely in. He even bought her a laptop with a built in webcam. With that purchase, she (& occasionally Alexis) would have video chats with the writer who was such an important part of both their lives.

But perhaps the biggest difference of all was the fact that they finally knew where they stood with each other. Their proverbial cards were on the table for all to see, and had been for the last six and a half months. Kate made no move to hide the smile on her face whenever she talked to Lanie about something sweet Castle had said to her. Rick didn't care that his publisher and agent sent him dirty looks when he spent too long talking to fans at his book signings because he got caught up telling a story about one of the thousands of things he loved about the beautiful detective he knew was waiting for him in New York. Both Rick and Kate understood that the connection they shared was something truly special, and it was worth waiting for.

But that didn't make this any easier.

Having been officially "together" for all of five minutes before he had been torn away from her to catch his flight, taking their relationship to another level had been challenging. They went from seeing each other everyday as colleagues to not seeing each other in person at all as a couple. It was clear to everyone around them that this was real; their relationship was the closest thing to fate that any of them had ever seen. But they could see how it was affecting them. The boys sometimes caught Kate staring at her phone with tears in her eyes because of how much she missed him. Paula and Gina couldn't help but notice those awkward moments when Castle would hang up his phone after talking to her, just to put his head in his hands and try to rub the emotion off his face so he could be with his fans.

And of course they still argued.

Sometimes it was over silly, trivial things, like what would Kate do if Castle bought her an Italian sports car and had it shipped to her at the precinct. But there were other times when Rick was sure that the argument they had would break them, like the time they fought over Kate's lack of caring for herself. They didn't speak for three days after that fight, and just before Rick was about to book a plane ticket back home to fix what had happened between them, she called him, overcome with emotion, to tell him she loved him and promise him that she would start taking better care of herself.

Perhaps that's why she knew they would work. For the first time, she felt comfortable enough in a relationship to call her boyfriend when she was clearly emotional to apologize. Had that ever happened before? No, it hadn't, because Rick was the only one that was worth it.

Maybe that's the moment Rick realized that Kate loved him just as much as he loved her. He knew how much he had to mean to her for Kate to swallow her pride and call him to admit that she was wrong. He knew how special he had to be for Kate to feel comfortable enough to allow herself to become that emotionally vulnerable to him.

They knew they could do this.

Which is why, after 200 days, Kate and Rick found themselves staring at each other's pixilated faces through the glowing screens of their laptops. It was Kate's birthday, and Rick had (politely) demanded that he get to "see" her on her birthday (since he had been unable to get the day off due to a live interview that Paula and Gina wouldn't let him miss). She had just gotten home from dinner with Ryan, Jenny, Esposito, and Lanie.  
>"I swear you look more beautiful every time I see you," Rick said, smiling at the faint blush that began to spread across her cheeks."<p>

"Well… you're not so bad yourself, Rick." She said, smiling back at him through the computer screen.

They held each other's gaze for a moment before he watched her eyes grow somber.

"Kate," he whispered gently, "Kate, what's wrong?"

She gave him a sad smile and tried to inconspicuously blink back her tears. "I just miss you, that's all."

"Oh Kate…" he said quietly, "I miss you so much."

She gave a small laugh as the tears unconsciously slipped out of her eyes, "I'm sorry," she mumbled, "I'm sure when you decided to be with me you didn't think I'd come with so many unnecessary tears."

"Katherine Beckett," he said firmly, but adoringly, "you know I love every single thing about you. Tears and all. And I can assure you that if I wasn't such an intimidating and brawny man, I would be sobbing right along with you."

She laughed. Even halfway across the world he could make her feel better.

It was then that they heard a pounding on the door coming from Rick's side of the computer. Not wanting to subject Kate to listening to an hour of Paula's droning, he gave Kate a sad smile.

"I know," she smiled back, "Go on."

"I love you, Kate."

"And I love you, Rick."

She blew him a kiss through the webcam and shut down the laptop. She moved it to its place on her bedside table and pulled herself underneath the warm covers on her bed. She grabbed one of her pillows and hugged it to her chest. She fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Because sure, it was hard and she missed him, but she knew that Rick was just as anxious to see her again as she was to see him; they loved each other, and for right now, that was enough.

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><p><em>"Every word is a mile<em>  
><em>I'll walk wherever you are<em>  
><em>I can't help but feel like a child<em>  
><em>When I'm crawling into your arms<em>  
><em>We were so right but we undid it all<em>  
><em>Now every night just feels like I'm on the wrong side of the world."<em>

_- Wrong Side of the World, Famous Like You_

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><p>Alright... so I'm really not happy with how this turned out, but I feel like I should give you all something. So...<br>**Love it? Hate it? Let me know what you think! (:**

Edit* More notes defending myself:  
><strong>Eight months seems a little absurd for a book tour<strong>: I agree, BUT…  
>1. Rick hasn't been on a book tour in at least 3 years in the show, and in my head I kind of had this set about 2 years ahead of season 3, so that's 5 years since he's been on a publicity tour. Let's assume he hits every major city inEurope, i.,Paris,Brussels,Berlin,Rome,Madrid, etc. I mean… in my mind he's traveling around the entire continent, hitting almost every country, and spending about a week or two in each to do book signings, readings, interviews, social networking, (possibly doing book research), etc… He's a busy man.<br>2. On a more emotional level – Rick was gone for three months between season 2 and season 3 of the show. To me, four months seemed a little too close to make it seem like there would be any significant difference in her feelings between him leaving then and him leaving now. I almost said 5 months, but I just didn't like that way that fit into the story. I liked the way 8 months sounded, and I think it really makes you feel how much they miss each other.  
>So yes… is 8 months pushing it? Probably. I'm sorry if it doesn't seem too realistic...<br>_May14th - Alright... I compromised. Changed it to six and a half months. Because that works for me, and I hate that you all didn't like the 8 months thing._  
><em>Another note:<em>  
><strong>Rick has the money to just come home for a weekend: <strong>Yes... he does. BUT...  
>1. He's working. He's got an angry publisher and agent who are salty enough that they have to be in Europe with him for that long because of all his earlier cancelled dates. They aren't just going to say... "Yeah. Sure. Okay. Just drop everything for the weekend and go home and see your girlfriend." For one, they probably are afraid he won't come back. And two, they're angry at him already.<br>2. No matter how much Kate wants to see him, I don't think Kate would be comfortable with the amount of money Rick would spend to charter a private plane every chance he could jus to come home and see her. She's never been extremely comfortable with his wealth to begin with (especially when he goes around flaunting it), and Rick knows that. He wouldn't want her to feel uncomfortable, so he just stays put. They have the phone, the webcam, and their routines, and for right now, that's enough for Rick.


	2. Coming Home

So, due to so many of you leaving kind and thoughtful reviews (which I appreciate more than you know, by the way), I decided to extend this one-shot into a two shot! I had thought about adding this in there the first time around, but I ended up liking where I left off the one-shot. But in all honesty, I really like _this _as an ending as well.

I hope you enjoy it!

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><p>"Well, I'm going home, back to the place where I belong<br>And where your love has always been enough for me  
>I'm not running from, no, I think you got me all wrong<br>I don't regret this life I chose for me  
>But these places and these faces are getting old<br>So I'm going home."  
><em>Home<em>, Daughtry

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><p>These past seven months had Rick Castle wondering why he ever used to enjoy going on extended publicity tours. His days and nights were full with places he went were filled with people he didn't know, parties full of women who only wanted his name and his money, and hotel rooms that were empty of anything but laundered bath towels, cold sheets, and suitcases that acted like closets. He can't help but think that over the last seven months he had driven more miles than he had in his entire life, shaken more hands than is healthy, and signed so many books in such a short amount of time that he's concerned he may have carpal tunnel.<p>

But right now none of that mattered anymore.

He was finally coming home.

He was going to be able to kiss his mother and Lanie on the cheek and feed the birds with Ryan and Esposito. Rick was finally going to be able to hug his daughter for the first time in seven months. However, perhaps what he was most excited for was the fact that he was finally going to be able to kiss Kate like he wanted to; to squeeze her tight and promise to never let her go again. He was anxious to see her, and he knew she would be excited to see him again as well.

Well, at least she would be… if she knew he was coming home.

By some blessed turn of events (although not for the television station), every interviewer at the television station in Valencia, Spain that was supposed to be his last stop for the publicity tour had gone out to dinner the night before to celebrate one of the cast's engagement and found themselves too physically ill to get themselves up in the morning. The station director had been furious and embarrassed, so he cancelled Rick's interview, apologizing profusely the entire time. As soon as he heard about the cancellation, he bought an early plane ticket home.

For all Kate knew, he was still in Spain, and wouldn't be coming home for another two days.

He couldn't wait to surprise her.

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><p>When Kate had woken up this morning, she hadn't expected anything out of the ordinary. She had reached over and grabbed her phone that was charging on the nightstand beside her bed and quickly took the necessary steps to unlock the screen. She was greeted by the same text message she received every morning from Rick and quickly typed out the same response she sent back everyday.<p>

She was so happy that he was coming home in a few short days. She had missed him much more than she would ever care to admit. She missed the coffee and the innuendo. She missed him being there to help her with cases, and going to Remy's for dinner and the Old Haunt for drinks. She missed his smile, and his jokes, and she really just couldn't wait for him to come home.

Two days. 24 hours. 1440 minutes. That's all she had to wait until she could finally wrap her arms around him and kiss him like she had been wanting to do these past seven months. As corny as it sounds, she was excited she was finally going to be able to just hold his hand. She wanted to feel his breath fan across her cheek as he whispered in her ear.

She shivered as a smile made its way upon her face.

When she realized what time it was, she finally lifted herself up out of bed and started making her way towards her bathroom, stripping off her clothes as she was walking.

Because yes, Rick was coming home soon, but today she had a murderer to catch.

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><p>Rick could've sworn his heart started beating faster when the captain came over the intercom and informed them that they were preparing to land at LaGuardia. He was finally home. After seven months of hotel rooms, takeout, and work, he would finally be able to sleep in his own bed, cook his own food, and go back to following Kate around. He had managed to start writing the next <em>Nikki Heat<em> book when he was overseas and was ridiculously ahead of schedule. Satisfied that Gina wasn't going to come calling for new chapters anytime soon, he took great pleasure in knowing he was Gina-free for at least 3 months, so long as he kept writing. And he was sure that that wouldn't be a problem, now that he was going to be seeing Kate everyday.

Kate. Oh god, he missed her so much. He was positive his heart had never ached more in his entire life than it had these past 7 months. Rick was used to the pain he felt when he was away from Alexis for extended periods of time; the slight longing he felt to be surrounded by his mother's eccentric mannerisms whenever he didn't see her for a few days, but he had never experienced a pain of this magnitude. His chest literally throbbed when he considered the fact that Kate was alone in the city. Sure, she had her father and her team there to take care of her, but he knew she would never ask them for help. It killed him to know that she was dealing with murderers and criminals without her partner there to help her or give her confidence; that if something happened in the middle of the night or she just wanted company, she couldn't just call him up and ask for him to come over, because she had to know he'd go to her in a heartbeat. Rick was sure that if someone die from needing to kiss someone so desperately, he would be the first; yet here he was, having not pressed his lips to hers once in the last seven months. But perhaps what he hated the most was the fact that he knew that she missed him, too. He could see it in her eyes when they were video-chatting. The soft sigh that escaped her lips every time they said goodbye on the phone did not go unnoticed by him. While Kate would never say anything because of the amount of respect she has for him and his job, Rick knew she hated that he was away on a book tour across the ocean. He knew that she just wanted him with her, and with the fire-breathing she-devils that were his agent and his publisher, he couldn't give her that.

It killed him.

Suddenly, he was brought out of his thoughts but the feeling of the planes wheels finally touching the runway at LaGuardia airport. As soon as he was allowed to do so, he grabbed the carry-on bag containing his laptop, a pad of paper, and a pen in case inspiration hit from the spot under his seat and all but ran off the plane and into the airport. He had called Martha and Alexis before he boarded the plane and they were meeting him at the airport. When he spotted the two redheads amongst the sea of people by the gate, he practically ran towards them.

Needless to say, bear hugs were exchanged and tears were shed by all.

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><p>Kate sat at her desk trying to rub the frustration out of her eyes. Her victim was a 22 year-old Hispanic male. He was fresh out of college (the first of his family to graduate) and was found in a dumpster with a stab wound to the chest behind the building he worked in. It had started out looking like a robbery gone wrong, but when Lanie discovered the single injection mark on the side of his neck, they knew it wasn't.<p>

Kate and her team had spent the last two days trying to come up with any clue as to why anyone would have wanted Eduardo Ruiz dead, but they kept coming up empty. She was just about to call Castle to see if he had any insights when she heard Esposito hang up his phone across the room.

"Hey yo, Beckett!" He called. She looked at him. "Vice just arrested a guy who matches our witness' description of our killer trying to take cash out of our vics account with his bank card. Guess what they found in his pocket when they took him down?"

"A five inch Swiss army knife?," She asked hopefully.

He gave her one of his grins, "With blood still on the blade. They're bringing him in for questioning now."

Kate gave him a smile. Things finally seemed to be getting better.

* * *

><p>After the tearful reunion at the terminal gates, Rick threw his arms around his mother and his daughter and they quickly worked their way over to baggage claim. Alexis asked him questions about the places he went and Rick responded, her enthusiasm catching. Once they got his bags, the trio began walking towards Rick's car in the parking lot. He threw all his suitcases in the trunk, grabbed the keys from his mother, and drove back to the loft.<p>

When he walked into the loft, he set his multiple suitcases down on the inside of the door and inhaled the scent of the loft. He was ecstatic to finally be home. He picked up his suitcases again and walked up the stairs to his bedroom. He opened the door and quickly shut it behind him. He put his suitcases in the corner and allowed himself to lay down on his bed and enjoy the comfort of his 1200 thread-count, Egyptian Cotton sheets. However, he sensed something was different.

He turned his head into his pile and deeply breathed in the scent. There was, of course, the scent of his cologne burned forever into the sheets, but there was something else there as well. It took him almost no time at all to figure out what it was.

Cherries.

Kate Beckett had slept in his bed. The thought gave him butterflies. His mind immediately began to think about when she could've been in the loft without him, but he found he didn't have to think about it long.

He thought back to a conversation he had had with Alexis a few weeks ago. It was around Thanksgiving, and she had come home for the weekend. Rick always made it a point to be home during major holidays for Alexis, but this year on Thanksgiving, Gina and Paula scheduled him for an appearance for him to read children's books at a children's hospital. He loved kids and he was excited to read to them, but he still felt horrible for leaving Alexis alone. Martha was on a cruise with her newest beau and Meredith was filming an Indie movie in the forests of Canada and was out of touch. Rick offered to fly Alexis out to London (where he was going to be) so they could be together, but she assured him it was fine. She then told him that she had talked to Kate (Alexis knew they were dating). Kate's father was helping a childhood friend retire in Florida so they decided to have Thanksgiving dinner together. She told him the next morning that after they had dinner and dessert (which, she had informed her father, had been delicious. Did he know Kate could cook?), they ended up watching old, tacky, movies for the rest of the night and into the early morning.

Rick assumed that instead of going home, she simply just slept in his bed (since he was sure he raised Alexis well enough to refuse to allow Kate to sleep on one of the couches). The action was innocent, but it still had his stomach in knots.

He really liked the way their scents mingled together in his sheets.

With that thought, he immediately realized that he had been in New York for 45 minutes and had not seen Kate yet. Kate; the woman who had been haunting his dreams for the past seven months; whose voice made him ache inside. Kate; the woman he's hopelessly in love me. He had to go see her.

Rick jumped out of bed and raced down the stairs, stopping only briefly to grab his keys and kiss his mother and daughter goodbye. When the door closed behind him, Martha and Alexis gave each other knowing smiles. They knew exactly where he was going.

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><p>"So tell me, Mr. Ruiz… If you had your brother's permission to use his bank card, why did you have a knife in your pocket covered in his blood?"<p>

With that, the weight of what he had done had finally hit him and Ricardo Ruiz broke down and quickly confessed to the murder of his brother. Kate called in one of the uniforms to deal with everything and quickly walked out of the interrogation room, satisfied with the confession. She made her way over to her desk to sit down and do paperwork.

Kate had two more places to sign on her paperwork when she heard the elevator doors open. Not one to be distracted, Kate quickly signed the lines where her signature was necessary and closed the case file on the corner of her desk. She stood up and began taking down the murder board.

_Hopefully_, she thought, _we won't get another case until after Rick comes home_.

She had only managed to erase the timeline when she started to hear the other Detectives around her began greeting the person who had walked through the doors. Intrigued, she turned around and immediately found the unforgettable blue eyes of Rick Castle.

She stood there in front of the murder board while Rick weaved his way through the Detectives surrounding him. He stopped a couple of steps in front of her.

"Hello, Kate…" he whispered.

She smiled, slightly embarrassed by the tears she could feel starting to form in the corner of her eyes.

"Hi, Rick…" she whispered back. Her voice cracked with emotion.

Rick closed the remaining space between them and wrapped his arms tightly around her torso. Kate responded immediately, moving her arms from their place by her sides to around his neck, burying her face into his neck.

She closed her eyes and took inhaled deeply as if she had been holding her breath for a long time.

They stood there just holding each other for a moment. Eventually she spoke again.

"I thought you weren't supposed to be home for two more days," she whispered.

"The station cancelled the last interview of the tour… I took that as a sign that I was meant to come home to you early."

Kate removed her head from its place on Rick's shoulder and looked at his face. He was staring right back at her, his love and happiness clearly visible in his expressive blue eyes. Kate hoped hers looked the same.

Ever so slowly, Kate raised herself slightly and leaned up into him. She saw his eyes flutter close and could have sworn his next breath was ragged.

Then she closed her eyes and softly pressed her lips to his.

Rick Castle had only one thought as he felt Kate kiss him.

He was finally home.

* * *

><p>"I need to hear you say<br>That I love you  
>I have loved you all along<br>And I forgive you  
>For being away for far too long<br>So keep breathing  
>'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore"<br>Far Away, Nickelback

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><p>Was that happy enough for all of you? lol. Seriously, though. I hope you liked it.<p>

& I really hope I did the reunion scene justice for all of you who were hoping I'd continue this. I was going for the whole they-know-&-love-each-other-so-much-they-don't-even-need-words-approach.

Listen to "Home" here - .com/ watch?v=7bnX-6sJZBw  
>Listen to "Far Away" here - http:.com/ watch?v=j4y-RzVGrHg  
>(just take out the spaces :D)<p>

As always… **Love it? Hate it? Let me know what you think** (:


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